Source: © Gallo Images Gallo Images The Open Chair event,Friends in High Places in partnership with Nedbank, hosted 65 young women in mentoring session on the Cape Wheel

The event took place during Loeries Creative Week on Thursday and hosted the young women on Cape Wheel with each pod on the wheel occupied by a mentor and several mentees.

“The pods are like a little meeting room, and you get a view of the city, but it is also an ideal safe space for women to share knowledge and receive guidance on navigating their careers.

“The mentors stay in their pod and the mentees change as the pods move through their cycles,” says Nkgabiseng Motau, CCO & founder of Think Creative Africa, a partner of Open Chair.

More senior women needed

She explains that they have very senior women connecting with young people who are up and coming in the business who want to understand the business and learn from the senior women.

The mentors are all senior women in leadership positions in the advertising, marketing and media industries.

Mentors were chosen by the Open Chair. “Unfortunately, it is not as simple as it seems as there are not as many senior women in the industry as you would think. But we reached out to as many as we could, but there is always room for more. We also had one or two people reach out to us once we started to advertise the event.”

Mentees on an upward projectory

The mentees were encouraged to apply to be part of the programme through their agencies, and various channels such as social media.
All of them are involved in the marketing and advertising industry, and they are all working.

“The event is for women who are in the industry already and on an upward trajectory. It is focused on making careers more sustainable in advertising for women.”

Rose Mabasa is a junior art director at TBWA, Johannesburg

Rose Mabasa. a junior art director at TBWA, Johannesburg says she came on this programme because there is a lack of women mentorship and it is important to learn from the people you want to be like.

“This is a great opportunity to be around these women, and I learnt so much from this.”

Zen Tunguntwana, an account executive from Digitas Liquorice Publicis,

Zen Tunguntwana, an account executive from Digitas Liquorice Publicis, says the industry is full of incredible women and this is a great opportunity to learn from them.

“I work at an agency where there are great women and I have learnt so much from them, but it has made me hungry for more, so it was a no-brainer to come onto this programme.”

Each mentee had three sessions with different mentors. “My session was amazing, I have prepared questions, but the session took on a life of its own. The conversation was just so amazing,” says Tunguntwana.

Open Chair, with Nedbank, presents Friends in High Places at Loeries Creative Week

3 days

Open Chair was founded by Suhana Gordhan, an independent creative leader. Apart from Gordhan and Motau, , the Open Chair partners include industry stalwarts Roanna Williams, CCO of Boundless, Fran Luckin, CCO of VML and Melina McDonald & Lorraine Smit, co-founders of Darling Films.